Boy, 6, attacked by mountain lion in Texas

BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK, Texas - Officials at Big Bend National Park in West Texas are looking for a mountain lion that attacked and injured a 6-year-old boy as he walked with three other people.

Park spokesman David Elkowitz says the boy was treated for puncture wounds and scratches and released from a hospital in Alpine.

The lion remains on the loose.

Rangers began evacuating trails and campsites early Monday. Closed areas include the Chisos Basin, Window Trail, the Pinnacles, Boulder Meadow and Juniper Flats.

Elkowitz says the young boy was walking near the park's lodge with three other people Sunday evening when he was attacked by a "young lion in very poor condition." The boy's name wasn't released.

Elkowitz says the animal that attacked the boy will be killed if found.

[nancy_naive]

"Vultures gotta eat, same as worms."

Gotta stop thinking of ourselves as outside nature.

[micmac666]

I hope the boy and cat recover. Blame adult humans for encroaching at will.

[netjunkie1]

Texans think little of their environment, only to capitalize on it.

[rwsmith29456]

Very sorry about the boy, but also the poor cat. It's shame that it was in such poor condition as to be compelled to attack humans. And when they find it they are going to kill it. At least I hope it didn't have rabies.

[midvale3]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35913715/ns/us_news-life/t/fatal-wolf-attack-unnerves-alaska-village/

by dot92141 February 7, 2012 5:39 PM EST
Wolfs kill for sport-????????
I dont think there is 1 documented case of a wolf killing anyone in the history of the usa.



Wow, that was an exhaustive search...Google much?

[enrapturelj]

Why not rehabilitate it and then relocate it instead of killing it?

[aChangeOfIdeas]

perhaps to do the rabies test, although they probably already started the boy on the shots.

[mecanik-2009]

LOL Maybe we need to get it into counseling. A few AA meetings and it will be ok. Rehab for a mountain lion seems a little weird to me.

[jamessamans]

Why kill the mountain lion if it's found? They're allowed to live there, and mountain lions are obligate carnivores inherently dangerous to humans. They don't need a taste for human flesh (as a bear might) to seek them out, nor will they (again, as a bear might) seek out humans regardless of surroundings once they've tasted them. They're predators who strike when opportunity presents itself. This one mountain lion is not unlike the others who inhabit the park.

[netjunkie1]

It's an excuse to use their guns.

[Irby32]

Elkowitz says the animal that attacked the boy will be killed if found.

Then don't find it! The kid IS alive...just nature

[nancy_naive]

I'm sure all animals at times will kill for sport. Same as some will play with an animal they could easily kill, and then leave it unharmed.

The difference is that only man looks for the biggest, and the healthiest, to kill because his mechanism for killing involves no, what's the expression?, moral risk?

Tell ya what, when you go after a grizzly with a bowie, then tell me you'd take the adult alpha-male.

[Zann-Zel]

Now who was that person from England telling me there were NO wild animals in Texas?

[nancy_naive]

Well, you're the wildest bore in Texas.